Hands sucking

[rebeccamum]

Hi, my 7 wk old girl has been putting her hands in her mouth a lot this week. She also rubbing and touching her face so I put mittens on them cos I'm afraid she will scratch her face (she has been wearing mittens since she was born as I couldn't cut her nails yet). She started putting her hands in her mouth and sucking them 3 days ago ands at the same time I've noticed she's been more restless. She usually catnaps during the day but sleeps very well at night. But since this hands sucking thing happened she has been restless at night too. Is this just a coincidence or really related? Can this growth spurt (is it?) :confused: have an affect on her sleep?

[catnapjack]

Hi again,

I wrote on your other thread about reflux....how is she doing ? As for the hand business, Jack didnt really start that until he was 14 weeks (your little one is clever finding her mouth so soon !) I also find that his hands in mouth tend to wake him in the night nowadays as I have been trying to wean him from his wrap. Since I have resorted back to firm wrapping to get us all a better sleep, he is now not able to do this in the night. In the day I encourage this as it is a crucial developmental step.

Do you wrap Rebecca?

:)

[rebeccamum]

CatnapJack, Rebecca is doing better with her reflux. She brings out less as I started using your techniques, thanks! Although sometimes she still brings out no matter what I do to prevent it, it doesn't bother me so much anymore. I talked to her paed and he said as long as she gains weight ok, there's nothing to worry about. I took her to CHN for a check-up and she weighted 4kg. She weighted 3.18kg when she was 10 days old so I think that's pretty good.

As for her sucking thing, I'm not sure if that wakes her up during the night as she does it even before she falls asleep. Yes, I wrap her to stop the movement when she needs to sleep (same as you, I try not to do this during the day to encourage her development), sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. She doesn't really like to be wrapped up and looks quite annoyed.

Maybe i should be thankful that she found her mouth this early and just realx and hoping this phase will go away so she can sleep well again :o

[nemosmum]

HI :)

My DS started sucking his hands in the womb LOL I have the pics and video to proof it!

Its a comfort thing just like bf, using a dummy, being wrapped its all apart of them feeling safe. :D

We used mittens too as DS would scratch his face at every opportunity and he also had reflux so this all sounds soooo familiar LOL

With the sleep thing just hang in there my DS's sleep patterns have changed lots of times and will continue to change as he gets older (his now 16 months).

Cheers
Sarah and O

[rynosmum]

I used mittens with bubs but the paediatrician told me to stop. He said that scratches with bubbies will last only a few hours however they need to be able to explore with their fingers, suck on their hands etc to develop correctly.

Still don't know if there is any validity in his statement - he was a bit odd all 'round..... :rolleyes: